Snow Globes
by dolphingirl7
Summary: River Heights has had several kidnappings occur with no clues other that snow globes left behind. Can Nancy and the Hardy Boys solve the case before someone they care about is hurt?
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys fanfic. Please R & R Frank and Nancy are 23 and Joe is 22.

Disclaimer: I don't own Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys

One sentence. That was all it took for Nancy Drew to become totally alert in bed. It was three o'clock in the morning (Central Time), and she was wide awake. She ran to her father's room, but he wasn't there. The ever present snow globe was, though. This could not be happening. Not right now, she thought. Nancy was alone, with a murder on the loose, who had her father. His words still echoed through her head.

_I know where your father is, but do you?_

Who should she call? Ned? No, he didn't care about her anymore, the dirty cheater. Bess and George would offer support, but not enough to keep her safe. Nancy's eyes rested on her phone. She called the number she hadn't used in a long time, but she knew it by heart.

"Hello?" The sleepy voice on the other end of the line said.

Frank Hardy's phone rang, at 4:00 in the morning, New York time. Who the hell would be calling me at 4 AM? He thought.

"Hello?" Frank said.

"Frank, it's me," said the scared voice of Nancy Drew. Two things were immediately wrong, Frank thought. One, Nancy never called this early. Two, she was never scared.

"Nancy, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I need you and Joe, quickly!" she said quickly.

"Why?" Frank asked.

"I need help on a case. I can't do it by myself."

"Why?" Nancy was a very independent woman and very rarely asked for anybody's help. Frank knew she was in trouble or she was going to be.

"They have my dad," She said.

"We'll be there in a few hours," he said, hanging up. Her dad was really important to her. He raised her by himself because his wife died when Nan was three.

Frank walked to Joe's room and shook him awake.

"What do you want?" He groaned.

"We are taking a trip," Frank said.

"Now?"

"Yes," Frank muttered, opening his blinds. It was still pitch black outside.

"Where?" He whined, his blond hair sticking up in all directions as he got out of bed.

"River Heights."

"Doesn't Nancy live there?" He said, suddenly more alert.

"That's why we are going. They have her dad," Frank said.

"Who is they?" Joe asked, as he grabbed his always ready suitcase to go.

"I don't know," Frank said traveling to my room to grab his, "But we are going to find out."

The Hardy's arrived in River Heights by noon the next day. The first thing they noticed was that Bess' car was parked in the driveway. The next thing they noticed were the three girls sitting on the porch steps looking downright depressed, like no one should ever look.

"Frank! Joe!" Nancy yelled, running to give the brothers a hug. Her hug with Frank lasted a little longer that the one with Joe. George Fayne, Bess Marvin and Joe all noticed and shared a look.

"What's going on?" Joe asked, as they sat around the Drew's dining room table.

"I was working on a case. A girl, Madi Moore, was kidnapped from her home. Two days later, another girl, Sammie Lusardi was kidnapped from her car. In both cases, all that was found in each car was a snow globe."

"A snow globe?" Frank asked

"Yes. In Madi's case, it was a snow globe that she bought in Saranac, New York, when she went there for a family vacation. For Sammie, it was one from San Francisco, where she visits her grandmother," Nancy said.

"Anyone else missing?" Joe asked.

"Yes. My father," Nancy whispered.

"Was there a snow globe?" Frank asked.

"Yes. The one of me and my mom in the middle of it that he got when my mom died."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all my awesome reviewers! I appreciate all of your input and hope you keep enjoying the story! If anyone has any thoughts about the story, please feel free to review! And I will try to update at some time this week, maybe tomorrow.**

"Why would they take your dad?" Joe asked, "Were you close to anything big that could have caught the culprit?"

"That's one of the things bothering me," Nancy sighed, "Every single lead I had was a dead end. I could understand taking my dad when I was close to something, well almost, but I had absolutely nothing."

The only one who noticed the fact that Nancy said _one of the things_ was Frank.

"Well, the best way to try and understand a case to understand where it starts," Frank said.

"It started two weeks ago. A woman, Mrs. Moore, came to my dad's office in hysterics. She asked him if he knew any private investigators. My dad was not going to say my name, but I was in the office with him that day," Nancy said.

"Why?" Joe asked.

"I sometimes help him organize his old cases and also look for old mysteries he hasn't had anyone solve, you know, when I am not investigating cases that come through my doors," She said, blushing slightly.

"What did Mrs. Moore want?" Frank questioned.

"She said that her daughter was kidnapped from her home in the middle of the night. She was freaking out and she was barley coherent. She said that her husband had died when Madi was very young and Madi was all she had left. She invited me over to look for clues. That when she noticed the snow globe. It was in Madi's car, which hadn't been used in a while because there was an engine problem."

"Couldn't Madi had put it there?" Joe said.

"That's what I thought at first, but then Madi's mom swore she had just cleaned Madi's room the day before, and the snow globe was on the shelf. I had no idea what the snow globe meant, but I kept it for evidence. This person who kidnapped her, he was a pro. He didn't leave anything behind."

"How old is Madi?" Frank asked.

"Twenty two," Nancy said, then added, knowing the next question, "And she is about 5'4" with blonde hair and green eyes."

"If she is twenty two, why would her mother still be cleaning her room?" Joe asked. Frank glared at him.

"You're twenty two and mom still cleans your room," He said.

"Ok, fine, I get it, stupid question," Joe mumbled, as Nancy, Bess and George laughed.

"Anyway," Nancy said, continuing, "I left the Moore house when I gathered any possible evidence, which was only the snow globe. Two days later, I got a call from my dad, saying that another girl was kidnapped in the area. This time, I ran into police. The only reason I got to the scene was because my dad is friends with Chief McGinnis owes my dad a favor."

"And," George cut in, "As much as he denies it, he does like everything Nancy does for River Heights. And he thinks she is, to quote his words from one of her last cases, 'A good kid'."

Everyone laughed, including Nancy, though she was a bit pink in the face.

"When I finally got to the car," Nancy continued, "I saw another snow globe and new I needed to grab it before the police saw it. I put it into my bag quickly, so no one would see. If the police had it, they would keep it and I would never know if it related to my case. This case the victim was Sammie Lusardi. She was twenty four and was about 5'6" with brown hair and brown eyes."

"They are so different looking," Frank commented.

"That's what I thought," Nancy said.

"Have there been any more kidnappings?" Joe asked.

"No. That's what's puzzling. They just stopped, until my dad," Nancy said.

"What were you investigating the day your dad was kidnapped?" George asked.

"I was investigating the hairdresser. They both had cards in their wallet to the same person. I thought it was possible they were related."

"I don't know, Drew," Joe smirked, "It sounds like you are getting a little desperate."

"Oh shut up," she said, slapping his arm.

"Why did you sound so scared on the phone?" Frank asked. She paled a little under his gaze.

"Because my dad went missing," Nancy said, knowing that it was only partly true.

"I know that might be part of the reason, but I know you, Nan, and something like that only makes you more determined," Frank said.

"People change. You haven't seen me in over two years," Nancy said, her voice rising slightly.

"Nancy, you can't lie to us. We have known you for the last two years, and you have not changed at all," George said, her voice rising.

"All right," Nancy gave in, "There are a few reasons. The first is that there was the call from the kidnapper when I first found out my dad was gone. He said that if I don't stop investigating, my dad would never come home."

"And?" Bess said quietly.

"They know where I live. They know where I work. My office was vandalized. On my desk was this," Nancy muttered, pulling out a file. She opened it and showed everyone what was inside. There were pictures, at least a hundred of them, from the time Nancy was a baby until now, investigating the case.

"So this person has been watching you your whole life?" Frank asked, shocked.

"Either that," Joe agreed, "Or it is someone who has known Nancy for a long, long time."


	3. Chapter 3

**I am so sorry that I have not updated in a while. I was away for two weeks and I had no chance to update. Thanks to all of my awesome reviewers. I am glad you all like the story and I like all the suggestions I have received. I hope to get on a more regular update schedule and update about twice a week. Sorry for any mistakes! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew**

"I really don't like this, Nancy," Frank said.

"You think that I do? If it was someone who was close to me, I don't know what I will do," Nancy murmured.

"Why didn't you tell us, Nan?" Bess asked, the fear evident in her eyes.

"Because you would have flipped out on me and tell me to get the police involved, but all they ever do is make it harder for me to investigate," Nancy whined.

"This is really serious Nan," George said, "There is someone who knows who you are and is watching you."

"I know. I am just really confused and I don't know what to do. I can't risk anything happening to my dad. I wouldn't be able to take it," Nancy said.

"Which is why they took him," Joe said.

"No, really," Nancy said sarcastically.

"Hey, we are only trying to help," Joe defended himself.

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't sleep much last night and I am beyond exhausted," Nancy said, and expressed her point with a yawn.

"How about Bess and George get you upstairs and Frank and I go over some of your notes to see if you missed anything," Joe suggested.

"Sounds good," George said, as she and Bess escorted Nancy upstairs.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Frank was beyond worried. No clues left behind and a whole lot of trouble. Nancy really knew how to make a mess of things. Or at least get into dangerous cases. How could this person be someone Nancy had known her whole life? Frank knew most of Nancy's friends, and none of them were the type to hurt her. He also knew many people of the town because of all the times his father has taken the family there on vacation to visit Nancy and her father. Nancy didn't have anyone who hated her in River Heights, besides Brenda Carlton. But Brenda was not the type to hide. She like to ruin lives publically. That was the only person who actually couldn't stand Nancy. Everyone else really liked her. This left him with the option of someone watching Nancy her whole life, which was just as unsettling.

"What are you thinking about, Frank?" Joe asked.

"Nancy. I don't like this, Joe," Frank said.

"Neither do I. But it must feel different for you than it does to me," Joe said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you like Nancy!" Joe said, "And I know you are flipping out on the inside."

"How would you know that I like her?" Frank asked.

"Because I know you. You can deny it all you want but with no more Callie you should act on how you feel. I never liked Callie anyway, but I do like Nan."

"There still is Ned, Joe," Frank sighed.

"No there isn't," George said from the top of the stairs, with Bess by her side.

"Is she asleep?" Frank asked.

"As soon as her head hit the pillow," George said with a sad smile.

"What happened with Ned?" Joe asked, not holding back his curiosity at all.

"It was a month ago. Nancy, George and I had just returned from Kansas investigating a kidnapping. She walked into a restaurant to meet Ned and he was kissing another girl. He didn't see Nancy. Later, she confronted him, and he was saying that if she made more time for him, he wouldn't have to hurt her. He wouldn't have found someone else. Then he brought up Frank saying that she cheated on him with Frank. Nancy said she would have been better off with Frank. That you would never hurt her. Then he slapped her, and she broke up with him," Bess said in a sad voice. Frank sat there stunned and pissed.

"I can't believe anyone could do that to someone," Joe fumed, "I could never do that to Van, and she would never do that to me."

"Is it possible that Ned is doing this? For attention?" Frank asked.

"I don't think so. He wouldn't be this good at covering his tracks. And Nancy would be on to him already. She questioned him but his stories checked out," George said.

"Frank, she has fallen into a work overload state. It's all she does. You need to help her with this case and with getting over Ned. And we all know you like her. It's kind of obvious," Bess smirked.

"It's not just me, bro," Joe smiled.

"Alright, but first let's work on this case," Frank relented.

"It's always work before play, huh Frank," Joe grumbled.

"He and Nan are the same way. Only, Nan gets into way more trouble that Frank gets into. She wasn't careful on the case before this one and almost got killed. George and I saved her, for a change," Bess admitted.

"Let's look at these photos and see if any match any in the photo albums that Nancy has," George said, grabbing some off of shelves in the living room and bringing them into the dining room.

"Good idea," Joe said.

"Looks like all the albums are by year, so let's organize the photos in the folder by year as well," Frank said.

There were no similarities between the pictures in the folder and the ones in the albums for an hour. Then, Frank picked up a photo of Nancy about age 14 with her leg in a cast and her arms slung around his and Joe's shoulder. She had fallen out of a tree trying to rescue her neighbor's cat. It matched one of the pictures in the photo album. The difference was the angle. The picture from the folder was much closer to them than the one in the album. That made Frank really uneasy. Who had been around them that day?

"Guys," he said, "Look at this."

"I remember that!" Joe said, "That was the day that we were supposed to go hiking in the park but no, someone had to break her leg."

"Hey, in her defense, the tree branch snapped," Frank said.

"You always try to defend her, Frank," Bess said with a grin, "You sure that you are only friends?'

"Yes, Bess, I am sure. Now, who was around us that day?" Frank asked, getting back to work at once.

"There was you, me, Nan, Bess, George, Ned, Mr. Drew, Mom, Dad, and Hannah," Joe said, counting off the names on his hand.

"Do we have any pictures at home of these trips we had with Nancy?" Frank asked.

"I'll call dad," Joe said leaving the room, pulling out his cell phone.

"Were we with her at all of the times these pictures were taken?" Frank asked.

"Most of them, yeah," Bess said, "You guys used to come around a lot, and Nancy would go to River Heights a lot, especially after her mom died."

"My biggest question is how the kidnappings tie into this," Frank pondered, searching through all the photos. Nancy didn't know the girls who were kidnapped and there were no pictures of them in the files.

"Are they even related? The folder and the kidnappings I mean. What if they belong to two separate cases?" George asked as Joe entered the room.

"Dad is sending the photo albums here with Vanessa," Joe said, clearly disgruntled.

"Why is Van coming?" Frank asked.

"Her mom wants her to get away from Bayport. She thinks that Van needs to get out. Dad offered to send her here with the photo albums and she jumped on the chance to help with a mystery," Joe grumbled.

"That and the fact that you were here," Frank smiled.

"As long as Van doesn't get hurt, I am ok with her being here. But I don't know what she thinks she can do. You, Nan and I are all licensed private investigators. Vanessa is not," Joe muttered.

"She can hang out with us and be the moral support," Bess said.

"Yeah, like that is important," Joe said with a grin.

"Joseph Hardy!" Bess shrieked, "You know it is important. Nancy always tells us how she loves how supportive we are. Right George?"

"Right. But right now we need to focus. Is it possible that there are two different cases? Could it actually be a coincidence that they both surfaced now?" George asked.

"It's possible," Frank said.

"But?" Bess asked.

"We don't believe in coincidences. We have to much experience in the field. There are no true coincidences," Joe put in.

"What I am worried about is that if this person has known her, or even followed Nancy her whole life, then they would know how she works," Frank said in a concerned voice.

"So they would know how to stay under the radar," Joe said.

"Do you think that they are going to kidnap again?" Bess asked.

"Yes," Nancy said, and they all jumped at the sound of her voice. She was standing in the doorway with a grim expression on her face.

"What happened?" Frank asked, noticing how beautiful she looked when she was worried.

"Chief McGinnis called. There was another kidnapping," Nancy said as she pressed her lips together.

"Who was it?" George asked.

"Katie Santana. And there was a snow globe. Chief McGinnis has it. He said he wants me to meet him at the station. And he said that he would let the fact that I have the other snow globes slide as long as I have help on this case. He also said he would let me use this one too, after he sees if there is any evidence on it," She said.

"Let's go, Nan," Joe said.

"You are going to come with me?" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah. You really think we would let you go alone?" Frank asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No. Let's get moving," Nancy sighed.


	4. Chapter 4

Twenty minutes later, Frank, Joe and Nancy were walking into the police station. Bess and George had left the group so that they wouldn't overwhelm the chief and went to meet Vanessa at the airport.

"I see you got bodyguards?" The chief joked when he saw Nancy walk in with Frank and Joe.

"Not in the mood, chief," Nancy muttered as she slumped into a chair.

"You haven't been sleeping," Chief said.

"She's worried about her father," Joe said.

"Why? Is he sick?" the chief asked confused. The trio shared a look.

"No. He was taken by the kidnapper," Frank said slowly.

"What?" Chief said, sounding a little angry. He turned to look at Nancy, "Did you have plans of calling it in?"

"I was going to stop by later today. It wasn't twenty four hours yet," She said after she explained the phone call and the snow globe.

"Nancy, you know you can always call me or the force when you are investigating a case," He sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry," She said with a roll of her eyes, as though she had said it many times before.

"Nancy, you need to be serious. You know your family is not 'normal' so to speak. You need to be careful," Chief said.

"I just want to find my dad, and the girls," Nancy said miserably.

"There's more," Joe said. Nancy sent a frantic glare his way, which he ignored.

"What do you mean, 'there's more'?" Chief asked.

"I mean that when her office was vandalized, a folder of pictures were left behind," Joe said.

"What kind of photos?" Chief asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Pictures from her whole life," Joe said, not looking at Nancy.

"You mean this person was watching you your whole life," The chief said.

"Either that," Nancy muttered, "Or it's someone really close to me, who hung around when we did. Or they stole the pictures from the Hardys."

"So, this person might be stalking you, and kidnapping people to get your attention?" Chief McGinnis suggested.

"It's a possibility," Frank said, running his hand through his hair. No one spoke for a minute.

"I can't believe you told him, Joe," Nancy thundered, as she left the office.

"You're in for it, Joe," Chief said.

"Nothing is worse that Nan when she is pissed off," Frank agreed.

"Oh man. I forgot how scary she is when she is pissed," Joe groaned, "What do I do?"

"Give her some time to cool off. But it's not like her to forget about the information she came here for. You need to keep an eye on her," Chief said, handing Frank a snow globe.

"So what happened?" Joe asked.

"Well, Katie Santana was walking home from work. She lived two minutes away in a populated area, so it wasn't unusual for her to walk home. Halfway between her house and work, her purse and a snow globe were found deserted on the sidewalk. The security camera watching the spot had its film stolen. There is no way to see who did it. This is another dead end mystery. I hate it. There are absolutely no clues, no ransom calls and no notes left behind. This is really pissing me off. And now with Carson gone, I don't know what to do about Nancy. She might get hurt if she's not careful."

"We will keep her safe," Frank promised, as he and Joe made to leave. But before they could get out of the door, another officer ran in, seemingly out of breath.

"Charlie, what's up?" The chief asked.

"They found a body, sir," Charlie said.

"Where?" Chief barked.

"In River Heights Central Park," Charlie gasped out, clearly trying to catch his breath.

"Do we have an ID yet?" Chief asked.

"No, but Lilly is on the job," Charlie said.

"All right, let's get going. And boys?" Chief asked the Hardys, "Keep Nancy away until we know who it is. Just take her home and try to get her to sleep."

"Yes sir," They said as they left the office. They found Nancy sitting in the car looking upset and tired, as if she has been waiting for the Hardys all day and they were very late.

"Let's get out of here," She said, "Before I lose my patience and my head."

"You driving or am I?" Joe asked Frank.

"I am," Frank said, as he grabbed the keys out of Joe's hand.

"Why?" Joe whined.

"Because no one is in the mood to end up in the hospital," Frank reasoned.

"I am not that bad," Joe persisted.

"Whatever, baby brother," Frank said.

"You only have eleven months on me," Joe said rolling his eyes.

"I am still older," Frank said, hoping to get a smile out of Nancy. He looked back in the mirror as he pulled out of the parking lot and saw nothing. Nancy didn't even move. He sighed. He needed to get her focused again. She was too angry and upset to even think about the case. She could get really hurt, and Frank wouldn't be able to stand it if she did. Though he would never admit to Joe, he really did like Nancy, a lot. And he was really glad that Ned was out of the picture. That meant that he had a chance with Nancy. His thoughts were interrupted by Joe's ringing phone.

"Hey Van," he said, "Nope, driving home from the police station…..No one was hurt…..Yeah, it's the case…..No, and I'm worried…..Bess and George should already be there…You see them?...Okay, good…..Yeah I love you. See you in a bit…..Bye."

"That was Vanessa?" Frank asked.

"No it was Santa Clause," Joe said sarcastically, "Yes it was Van. What gave away? The 'Hey Van?' or the 'Bess and George should already be there' or the 'I love you'?"

"I get it," Frank muttered, "Stupid question."

"Ya think?" Joe asked as they pulled into the Drew driveway.

"Just go watch TV or something," Frank said.

"Fine, I will," Joe grumbled as he walked inside. Nancy sat on the steps and motioned for Frank to sit next to her.

"Promise you won't tell Joe if I tell you something?" she asked.

"Yeah, I promise," He said, taking a seat.

"I'm scared. Frank, my dad has never been a situation like this before. With no clues and I wasn't close to anything," She said miserably.

"Don't worry," Frank said, thinking of the body they found and hoped it wasn't Carson.

"I have to," she said, "There have been no clues and my dad is gone and it is very possible I am being stalked. The only thing missing from that is the notes."  
"Nancy, stop thinking like that. We will find your dad. And you are not being stalked. There is just no way that someone could stalk you for like 20 years and you not know about it."

"Then it is someone that I have known for a long time," She said.

"Could it be Ned?" Frank asked gently.

"He stabbed me in the back, but I don't think he is capable of this. He isn't…mean or bad enough to do something like this. Besides, he seemed plenty happy with the girl he was with. He didn't want to be around me anymore, so I don't think he would spend this much time making my life a living hell," She said, clearly upset. Frank put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him.

"I missed you, Frank," She said softly.

"I missed you too," He said, "And I want you to know that I will always be here for you if you need to talk or just need a friend."

"Thanks, Frank," she said, "That really means a lot to me. When Ned cheated, he left me upset and very betrayed. I didn't know who I could trust. And it hurt to think that Ned would do something like that."  
"Nancy, you can always trust me. I won't hurt you like Ned did," he said.

"You know, I mentioned you in my fight with Ned. I said I would be better off with you. He backhanded me. And that hurt more than the breakup. I never thought he would hurt a fly. And I meant it when I said I would be better off with you. Frank, I really do like you," Nancy said. She really did. She thought Frank was amazing and was really glad that Ned and Callie were out of the picture,

"I really like you, too," Frank said, leaning down to kiss her. And she leaned up. Their lips met and they kissed for a few seconds, until several voices interrupted.

"It's about freaking time," They said. Frank and Nancy blushed and pulled apart. Joe stood behind them and Bess, George, and Vanessa stood in front of them.

"VAN!" Joe yelled, running to give her a big hug.

"HI Joe," She laughed, then hugged Frank and Nancy.

"I have the photo albums," She said, "I hope they are helpful."

"They will be," Frank promised, as he stood with Nancy's hand in his.

"You get to hang out with us and be the moral support for the dream team," Bess said.

"Moral support is very important," George agreed.

"Oh shut up," Joe said, blushing. Then Frank's phone rang.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Frank, it's Chief McGinnis. We have an ID on the body."

"Who is it?" Frank asked, nervous to hear the answer. If it was Carson, he did not want to be the one to deliver the news to Nancy. She would not take that well.

"The body belonged to Madi Moore."

**Hey Guys! Sorry for the long wait in updates. I actually got hurt and received a concussion so I was not able to write for a while. I really hope to update soon, but school starts this week and I don't know how much time I will have to write. If anyone has any ideas for this story, feel free to PM me. I always look at any ideas people have for me. I would also like to thank my awesome reviewers: Shark, Softball7, Emmy1987, Megaledon, beachgirlsrule, Dreamer, Lava Girl, Aria987, Cupcake, Lily0731, Paula87, Merliah38, Hairspray4life, and Summerlovin. Thanks for the reviews and please review! I really appreciate all reviews. I am sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.**

Frank stood in shock for a minute – in shock that Madi was dead, but thankful at the same time that it wasn't Mr. Drew. And he felt horrible for thinking that. He was supposed to be helping Nancy find Madi. Well, she was found all right, and it wasn't a good thing.

"Frank?" Nancy asked, "What's wrong?"

"They found Madi's body," He whispered.

"WHAT?" She exploded, "What do you mean?" Although she knew exactly what he meant – Madi Moore was not going home ever again. She had failed at finding her. Nancy had told Mrs. Moore that she would find her daughter – not her daughter's corpse.

"Nancy, you know what I mean. Don't make me say it again," Frank pleaded.

"Who is Madi?" Vanessa asked.

"One of the kidnapped girls. The kidnapper changed his game," Frank said.

"Well, this freaking sucks," Joe fumed.

"No shit, Sherlock," Bess muttered.

"I find that offensive!" Joe said petulantly, trying to lighten the dark mood.

"Joe, be serious. A girl was murdered. Do we have a murder weapon?" Nancy asked, getting right down to business. Now that she was investigating a murder, she couldn't afford to waste any time. She needed to save Sammie and Katie and her dad. No one else could die. Whoever was doing this has finally succeeded in seriously pissing her off.

"Suffocation, probably a nylon rope. That is all the Chief would give me. Then he said to tell you and make you promise to be careful. Any chance you will listen to reason and turn the case over to the police and stay out of trouble?" Frank asked hopefully. Joe snorted.

"Not a chance, Hardy, not a chance," Nancy smirked, before frowning as she remembered what she was investigating.

"Was that the only body found so far?" Nancy asked quietly. Frank knew what she meant—is her dad still alive.

"As of now, we have no reason to believe he isn't," Frank said carefully. He didn't want to upset Nancy, or piss her off. No one wanted to be on the receiving end of her anger. At least Nancy seemed to forget about her anger at Joe. But Frank was really worried about her. The way she ran out of police station was unlike her. She was always focused on her work and never left a mission empty handed. But she did today, and Frank was worried. Maybe this case was taking more of a toll on her then she let on. That was not the Nancy he knew. He wanted her be normal Nancy, happy, lively, and energetic. But she wasn't. She looked exhausted and acted depressed. She wasn't Nancy, and Frank wanted her back. What really worried him was that she would make a mistake and get hurt while being unfocused, because she was. Maybe that was part of the reason she called, why she was scared. She was never unfocused, and maybe that scared her a little. She was serious about the other reasons as well, and that plus an unfocused Nancy could lead to a big disaster – one he did not want to deal with. When they kissed earlier, she had seemed almost herself again. And then came the news about Madi, and her almost good mood was gone. Why was the world against everything they ever did?

"Thank god," Nancy said, and Frank had almost forgotten his question.

"Don't worry, Nan," Joe said, "We will find him." Nancy's blue eyes blazed, her forgotten anger returned. Frank sighed.

"Why would you tell Chief what happened? That was for me to tell, not you!" Nancy yelled at him.

"Nan, he had the right to know," Joe defended, "You are not working against him, you know. He needed to know so he could work on the case too. Katie's parents went to the police, so now they are involved, even if it seems like Chief letting you take care of it. Why can't you just let them help?"

"Because they always mess everything up! Once they get involved, whatever case I am working on becomes a royal pain in the ass!" Nancy growled. She glared at Joe, who winced.

"Alright, fine, I give up. You win. Don't work with the police. But when you are kidnapped or in trouble and they come save your sorry hide, don't forget what you think about them," Joe said.

"They won't save my sorry hide. You will, Joe, with Frank," Nancy said, "I trust you and think that you will always have my sorry hide, just like I have yours. Which is way more often," Nancy added, letting Joe know that she wasn't angry any more.

"Whoa, wait. Frank, I think we save her way more than she saves us," Joe said, offended.

"Yeah, I think we do!" Frank agreed.

"Hey! There are two of you and one of me!" Nancy defended.

"Yeah, but the trouble you get in is way more than what we get in," Joe said.

"Watch it, Joseph. You just got out of the woods," Nancy glared. Joe flinched at his real name.

"Well, I guess we better start looking at the photo albums if we want to get anywhere," Vanessa said.

"You guys work on that," Nancy said, "I want to look at the snow globe." She held out her hand for the snow globe that Frank had. He passed to her and she left to go up to her room. As soon as she walked in, she closed her door. She knew there had to be something with the snow globe, or it wouldn't be important. She played around with it for ten minutes and then she started getting frustrated. There were no clues with the snow globe. So why did the killer keep placing them at crime scenes? To tease them? To let them know that the victims were chosen a few days before they were killed, at least? She found that out when Mrs. Moore said that it was missing for a few days. Letting out frustrated scream, she threw it at a wall, and it shattered, the whole thing. Even the bottom shattered. And a piece of paper flew out of it. She didn't think to put on shoes as she walked across the shattered glass to reach the note. She didn't even notice until she stepped on a particularly sharp piece that drew blood.

"Ouch," She moaned. She had just reached the paper when Frank ran into the room.

"Nan, what's wrong? You're bleeding," He added when he saw the stain below her foot.

"I stepped on a piece of glass after I threw the snow globe. Look what was in the bottom!" She said showing him the piece of paper.

"'Time is running out,'" Frank read aloud, "'Miss Drew, if you still have not figured out that the bottoms have notes by now, I have sorely overestimated you. Obviously, you have not found out beforehand because then you would have known you had a chance to save Madi. But I see you have brought help. And let me say, that they will not stop me from getting the prize: you. Now, you have two days to find Sammie before she joins Madi, and four before your father joins them. I hope you enjoy the time you have left, because soon I will come after you. And the end will not pleasant for you at all. Your deathly admirer. AKA DA.' Who the hell is your deathly admirer?"

"I don't know," Nancy said, clearly confused, and upset. She had no idea she could have saved Madi.

"Nan, this guy wants to hurt you. And why would he tell you how much time the others have?" Frank asked.

"Because he wants me to try to find them before it is too late. Or he will try to lure me to where he is hiding by sending me on a chase to find them. But where would he be hiding?" Nancy questioned.

"What about the other snow globes? He obviously knew he was going to be killing Madi and now he is making it a game. He wants you to find the others. And don't blame yourself for Madi's death," Frank warned, catching on to Nancy's guilty expression, "You have no control over others. And how do you know he is not bluffing?"

"The only way we will find out is if the notes in the other globes give clues. How did I miss this?" She asked miserably. Frank wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't know," Frank said, "But you said you checked the globes all over and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe the only way to open them was to smash the bottoms. Its genius, because that would be destroying evidence. He must have been waiting for you to get so frustrated that you would break the snow globe. This way, no one else could figure it out. He knows you would get frustrated if you couldn't figure something out and counted on it. Nancy, you did what he wanted you to do."  
"But why say overestimated me? I lasted longer than he thought I would," Nancy said.

"Maybe he means that he thought you would have thought to open the bottom," Frank suggested.

"That doesn't feel right. I can't picture that happening. I really think he expected me to find out earlier. There has to be another way—that I overlooked. Maybe that was how he intended with this one, but the others have to have another way. Which is why he won't tell me how it really works in this note," She muttered, "He wants to frustrate me."  
"No. He wants to play with you and eventually hurt you," Frank corrected.

"I am not going to let him hurt me or Sammie or my dad or Katie. He sorely _underestimated _me when I am determined, and I am determined not to let anyone else get hurt. He better know that he has a full blown out storm heading his way and he better be prepared. Nobody takes my dad, kills a woman, kidnaps two others, plays games with me and gets away with it," Nancy said with a determined look on her face.

"Well, you can work on that after we bandage your foot. It's still bleeding," Frank reminded her.

"Yeah, speaking of which, it hurts," Nancy admitted as she maneuvered through the rest of the glass to her bed with Frank's support. Ten minutes later, he bandaged her foot and they were about to head downstairs when Joe burst into the room.

"Frank, there are pictures missing in the photo albums. And the captions for the pictures missing are for the pictures that were in the file. Someone has been in our house and took the pictures to send to Nancy," Joe said in one breath.

"So someone broke into our house to stalk Nancy? But that means that the person has followed us at some point," Frank said, and then another thought dawned, "Or it was a close family friend that we let into our house."

"Either way, we are in a big mess," Nancy said with a shake of her head.

"No kidding, Nancy," Joe agreed, "What happened up here?" He asked when he noticed the glass that littered the floor.

"Nan got frustrated and threw a snow globe at the wall. She found a note inside and cut her foot trying to reach it," Frank said.

"What did the note say?" Joe asked. Frank handed it to him and started to pick up the bigger pieces of broken glass.

"Crap. Well, this is just the icing on the cake, isn't it," He muttered sarcastically.

"Let's go see if the other snow globes have notes in them, like this one says they do," Frank said as he handed Nancy a pair of her shoes so she wouldn't tread on broken glass. The trio made their way downstairs to Carson's office where Nancy was keeping the other snow globes for the time being. She kept them in the safe so that no one would take them and so she knew where they were. She grabbed the globes and sat down at her father's desk and prepared to open up the snow globes to see what the other notes said and try to find a location.

**Sorry for the delay, again. Now that school started again I am insanely busy. I hope to update once a week, but I am updating as fast as I can. Thanks to all my awesome reviewers: Cookieangle, minimouse7, TrixieNancy124, Hairspray4life, Summerlovin, Megaledon, Cupcake, and anne-cahill-39. Sorry for any mistakes in grammar and spelling. Please Review! **


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